age 57, the year he became president of the united states. it's about an hour and 15 minutes. >> thank you, kay, for that excessively kind introduction. thank you all of you for making the effort to be here and thank you, kay, and the marvelous staff on mount vernon and all of you who have made the long match with me acr i also want to say

word of thanks to c spanned the c-span audience for taking such an interest in our first president. most of all, i feel indebted to the mount vernon's ladies association for sponsoring this lecture series and giving me a second chance, as it were, to spend some quality time with the greatest of americans. almost 20 years have passed since the book that gay was kind enough to mention first appeared. i had forgotten what pleasurable company the president can be. you don't have to quite a book about washington to find him both fascinating and elusive.

for any watchful visitor that

mount vernon can attest, just when you think you've got his measure, the hold man will challenge your assumptions. case in point, in the autumn of 1787, newly returned from constitution making in philadelphia towards washington turn his attention to somewhat more prosaic matters. the squire of mount vernon needed a gardener and approached the job search with the same insight that so impressed his fellow delegates, he drew a contract with a hard drinking candidate after solemnly making him due his duties sober. $2 at easter to effect the same purpose and $2 at witten tide to be drunk for two days and drink at dinner and at noon. the thought of a wry bemuzed washington tolerant of human frailty, harboring his own doubts and vulnerability -- indeed many students of washington, the only thing about the man that exceeds his desire for control is his capacity for self-control. undoubtedly this helps to explain the dutiful side of our first president, but it is only a fraction of the man's inner

self or indeed of his public character. it's not easy for us to think as washington as conflicted. a man's whose instinct was on power about his ambivalence. harder still, this tension with the unruffled confidence of washington at 57 as he stands on balcony of new york's federal hall in a suit of connecticut broad cloth, ready to embark upon an office more stunly tailored to his out sized dimensions as a leader. in gazing up at the third life like washington in mount vernon's new education center, we figure if we join an audience of 10,000 new yorkers on a history making spring day in 1789. intensely aware of his place on stage, the man at the center of the action has long grown accustomed to watching himself being watched. on april 30th, 1789, his lead part in a largely unscripted drama at the head of a government is yet more conceptual than real. quote, we now stand in independent people and have yet

to learn political tactics. washington told his youthful protege and son, we are based on the earth and have a character to establish. in many ways washington's vision of the american republic was to be an extension of his own character. because he credited harsh self-discipline in realizing his personal destiny, he embraced a energetic government as the only means of protecting a fragile union from flying apart. because he balanced executive vigor with personal restraint, he gave us a government strong enough to lead and wise enough to listen. at what cost to his own repose and piece of mind. the roar of the crowd compensated for the sacrifice of an aging hero whose memory was failing and whose hearing was unreliable or so he claimed, by rheumatoid arthritis and desire for a simpler more rustic

existence far outweighed his taste for ceremony or patience with adulation. few knew how reluctant washington was to accept the presidency. in the months preceding his inaugural, he had but one wish, quote, to live and die in my own plantation. it is said every man has his portion of ambition. he explained to his earliest biographers david humfries, i may have mine as well as the rest but if i know my own heart, my ambition would not lead me into public life. to henry knox, he went further likening himself to quote, a culprit who is going to the place of his execution. washington found consolation in the possibility of resigning halfway through his term after having went the new regime the legitimacy that only he could bestow, could you imagine if he

followed through on that fantasy. how you would have transformed not only the presidency which might very well become a prime ministerial position at which the government is nominally the head. this fantasy does nothing to elevate his mood on inauguration day. i fear i must bid adieu to happiness on the eve of his presidential oath taking, for i see nothing but clouds and darkness before me and i call god to witness the day which you'll carry me again into public life will be a more distressing one than anyone i may ever know. sound familiar? it should. washington used language almost as dour to denigrate, even as he downed his regimental uniform to advertise his availability. his humility was enough and so

was his youthful desire for recognition and in later years the favorable notice of posterity. of course, i have to say washington and those around him had a great advantage denied to today's leaders. when they worried about appearances, they could in fact afford to take the long view, which is another way of saying they didn't worry about brian williams. let alone howard stern. it is difficult by contrast to imagine today's pretenders to the throne conducting the same anguished interior dialogue that is so revealing of george washington and his character. for washington so self-conscious about the figure he cut, it was not enough to be virtuous. he must be seen to be virtuous. after the war, he turned down grants of land and rejected out of hand an effort by pennsylvania officials to petition the continental congress for money on his

behalf. he agonized over whether to accept a gift of 150 shares in a virginia canal company voted him about a grateful virginia assembly. how would this mat every be viewed by the eyes of the world, he asked. to pocket the prize might smack of a public pension, compromising his self-less position. at the same time he was a passionate advocate of canals who did not wish to offend the assembly by making himself look in his words, austentatiously

disinterested. he sought advice in the matter from jefferson and lafayette. his anxiety was real. so was his relief. when he finally decided to donate the shares to a fledgling economy in western virginia, today's washington and lee college. he was equally torn over attending the constitutional convention in the summer of 1787. in returning his commission at the end of the revolution, he had pledged himself to retire from public life. moreover, he already declined an invitation to lend his presence to a simultaneous meeting in that city in the order of the cincinnati, the war time officers from which he maintained an somewhat uneasy distance. on the other hand, washington was more passionate about the success of republican government, than he was about the usefulness of canals and not happy with the feeble regime under the articles of

confederation, the self-proclaimed league of friendship under which a patch word puzzle of squabbling former colonies had done little to refute old world skepticism about the public and its pro inspects. it appears to be little more than a shadow without a substance, he complained. we're either a united people or we are not. he told james madison in 1785, if we are not, let us no longer act afarce by pretending to be it. subsequent events confirmed his worst fears, the pitchfork uprising in western massachusetts left washington mortified beyond expression. so did congress' anemic response to the rebel on, symptomatic of the confederation's inability to raise troops or levy taxes or provide for the common defense. the united states it appeared were sadly misnamed. a daily rebuke to the commanding general who's citizen armies suffered unimaginably to fulfill

the promise of self-government. he was holding to such crew views, conspicuous among them, saw in washington the key to american unity and political self-respect. with so much hanging in the balance, would this reluctant retireee risk his prestige in a long shot attempt to establish a government worthy of the name? washington had personal as well as political reasons to hold back. the washingtons were a short lived breed and in his mid-50s the general regarded himself as living on borrowed time. life at mount vernon was good. freed from the public employment and responsibilities of office he told lafayette, i am now enjoying domestic ease under the shadow of my own vine and my own fig tree. in a small villa with the

husbandry and lamkins around me, i expect to glide gently down the stream of life until i'm entombed of the dreary mansions of my fathers. in public protocol forced him to walk the line between aloofness and sensibility. at mount vernon he could relax his guard without lowering his standards. format dress gave way to buckskin breaches and boots. manner of living is plain, he wrote, soon after the revolution, when the house became in the words of its owner, a well resorted tavern. a glass of wine and butt of mutton are always welcome, those that expect more are disappointed. here washington gave free reign

to his talent for innovation. rotating 60 different crops in place of soil depleting tobacco, automating his grist mill and speaking mud from the potomac to fertilize his fields. wouldn't you love to be a fly on wall with the argument over the comparative virtues, the fehr fertilizing virtues of cleansing mud versus seaweed. washington mixed sand with fresh paint to make his wooden house look like stone. and then as lover of gadgets, delighted in a continue shower bath that doubled as a card table and chair that petals let him shoe away flies. still it was with considerable reluctance that washington consented to join 50 other delegates summoned to philadelphia in the summer of 1987. he arrived fully aware of his importance to a nation that was more conceptual than real. his mere presence at the

pennsylvania statehouse elevated a gathering whose product might otherwise have gone out to the world a political orphan. nor was it lost on his colleagues that their presiding officer, having already exercising administrative, diplomatic and political sovereignty throughout eight years of war would almost certainly fill the as yet undefined role of executive. if he could again be persuaded to hazard a jealously guarded reputation. there was never the slightest doubt that he would be chosen to preside over the convention, nor did washington disappoint in his role as democratic demi god. one day someone handed him a mislaid copy of an early draft constitution. washington waited until the end of the day's business before introducing the subject of the carelessly misplaced document. what happened next is to be

found in max fairen's convention records as washington rose from his seat at the front of the assembly room, he expressed frosty disappoint, quote, that some one member of this body has been sew neglectful of the secrets of the convention as to drop in the statehouse a copy of their proceedings. i must retreat the gentleman to be more more careful about premature speculations, pause for effect. i know not whose paper it is, said washington with magnificent disdain, but there it is. let him who owns it, take it.

with that, he tossed the offending paper on the top of his desk and bowed silently and picked up his hat and quit the room. can you imagine? no surprise that no one ever did claim -- the misplace d document. this was the washington steeped in the theater of leadership. a gifted performer who had popular government once by standing down a military coup as his post war hq in newberg, new york. yet appearances could be deceiving, washington had the power to inspire wordless terror, it is more stage effect than character trait. the latter found expression in his repeated assertions of personal and professional inadequacy. to modern ears suspicious if not cynical about such disclaimers, washington's protestations may sound less than convincing. for the fact remains he did accept command of the continental army and did agree to serve as the nation's first president.

but that is exactly my point. real or fain and i believe it was much more authentic than otherwise, it was washington's very ambivalence towards power grasp this and you'll begin to understand not only the presidency, but the nation whose character he did so much to form. consider the heated debate at the convention over the role of the executive. roger sherman of connecticut would concentrate all authority in congress. what sherman called the executive magistracy, an institution for carrying the will of the legislature into effect. other delegates proposed a leadership representing the nation's three distinct regions, a three-headed executive. benjamin franklin opposed an

executive veto and argued that the president should draw no salary. charls pickny insisted that no one should be considered for the presidency unless he owned at least $100,000 in property. a trial balloon franklin gleefully shot down by suggesting that some of the richest people he knew were among the biggest rogues. who then should elect the chief executive? congress or the people? if the former, how should take the lead? the office should be energetic but not too energetic. memories of royal tyranny were still fresh. george mason thought the presidency as it evolved was entirely too powerful especially where war making was concerned. at his insistence the grounds for presidential impeachment were brought to include the

deliberately vague phrase, high crimes and misdemeanors. mason had plenty of company in his objections, from paris, thomas jefferson scorned the provision for unlimited re-election as quote a bad addition of a polish king. james monroe took exception to the electoral college. after washington and his fellow delegates affix signatures to the final parchment. the battle brings us back to the dichotomy between the controlling washington and the reluctant executive. it may seem inconsistent but it explains as much as anything can, why americans distrustful of centralized rule were willing to take a chance on nationhood under the constitution. and it hopefully explains why i have spent so much time this evening grounding washington's performance as president in events leading up to april 1789.

for the character of the office is a direct reflection of washington's values and the unique credibility he enjoyed even among those who feared the loss of state and local sovereignty in the new federal structure. character counts. washington said as much in his first inaugural address with the elegant tribute to the sacred fire of liberty, first on the revolutionary battle fields, there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists an indissolvable union between virtue and happiness and between duty and advantage. the united states washington implied could only flourish as a republic of virtue. her president setting an example and on occasion using his exhalted position to teach,

admonish and publicize. taking pains to appear above partisanship, washington em employed the washington national rather than federalist to label the new regime. with every decision, no matter how seemingly trivial he helped to establish the natural character of which he spoke. there was the question, for example, of what to call him in his official capacity. members of the senate favored the high toned, his highness and president of the united states and protecter of liberties. the house of representatives urged he be addressed as the president of the united states, vice president adams was appalled. what would common people think of such a title, they will despise him to all eternity. washington with a far surer grip on public sentiment much

preferred the less ornate of mr. president.